


Your Love Written On My Skin

by WolfStar2018



Series: Your Love Written On My Skin [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-08-14 01:03:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20183680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfStar2018/pseuds/WolfStar2018
Summary: Based off the prompt: AU where anything you write on yourself shows up on your soulmates skin.I loved the idea of Bucky falling in love with his soulmate before he even meets them because of all the beautiful stuff Steve would always draw on himself. So this came to life. I hope you enjoy it!





	1. Chapter 1

Bucky's mom loved talking about the way she had met George, her soulmate, when they were still young. They went to college together and Winnie would always write things on her hand to remember things. One day she wrote a time and a place and George showed up. Winnie would always say it was like love at first sight. Well, Bucky is in college himself now and he's not so sure about love at first sight but he sure appreciates the beautiful drawings that show up all over his legs and arms. He had been enthralled when he was younger and the drawings started to show up. His mom explained how that was because his soulmate was drawing on themselves. Bucky had loved it and hated it. The person would draw such beautiful things and Bucky never hated them, however sometimes the drawings wouldn't show up for days or weeks at a time and those times Bucky would worry himself sick.

He also couldn't help but feel bad for his soulmate sometimes. He had some friends with really bad senses of humor. They loved drawing dicks on Bucky. Bucky himself would always make sure to write sorry next to it later, but he still felt bad. He couldn't help but wonder if the poor person would dislike him just for that. He sure hoped not. They were supposed to love each other.

Bucky is currently in his mechanical engineering class, trying to pay attention, but new drawings keep showing up on his skin. Beautiful elaborate flowers in all kinds of colors. A few different fruits, which made Bucky smile. There were also some cute animals. He was sure he was smiling like a damn fool but he couldn't help it. He hoped he got to meet his soulmate soon. He was wondering what they looked like-

“Barnes!” The professor calling him out snapped him out of his daydreaming. He blushed. The professor didn't seem to care. “Rogers! Why are you two in this class if you're not gonna pay attention?”

Both Bucky and the Rogers kid mumbled apologies and the class went on. No more drawings showed up and Bucky actually paid attention for the rest of class. He was sad and a little curious about not receiving anymore drawings but he was glad he didn't get called out again.

On his way out the professor called to him and the Rogers kid again and asked them to say for a minute. They both glanced at each other and walked warily over to the desk. When they got to it Professor Banner glances at them both and said, “I'm sorry for calling you both out like that but I think I realized something. I was gonna mention it before but didn't want to do so in front of everyone. Can you both pull your sleeves up for me?”

Bucky glanced again at the Rogers kid. He was the most beautiful person Bucky had ever seen. Blond hair and blue eyes, he was short and lean, almost sickly skinny, but Bucky thought he was so cute. His blond hair was a little longer in the front and flopped into his eyes as he looked back at Bucky. Rogers smiles at him and Bucky almost melts at the beauty of that smile. They both look back to Professor Banner and roll their sleeves up.

Professor Banner smiles a knowing kind of smile and Bucky looks back at Rogers. When he looks down at the boy's pale arm he lets out an audible gasp. The boy himself turns to Bucky and his eyes go so wide Bucky thinks he could drown in the beautiful baby blues. Just when Bucky thinks he's about to melt under the intensity of Roger's gaze the boy himself lights up like a damned Christmas tree.

“It's you!” He exclaims in a voice that is too deep for such a tiny body. Bucky smiles back at him and sticks out his hand. “I'm Steve!” Rogers – Steve – replies before Bucky can say anything. He moves closer, “Can I hug you?” he asks tentatively.

“I'm Bucky, and sure.” Bucky replies.

Steve throws his arms around Bucky and suddenly Bucky feels like he's home. The smell of Steve's hair and the feeling of holding Steve in his arms, and suddenly it's a little overwhelming for Bucky. He starts to cry, completely mortified, and tries not to let Steve see it. Somehow Steve must sense something's up.

“Bucky?” Steve pushes away and Bucky feels the loss in such a profoundly physical sense that he's left speechless. He reaches for Steve's hand and glances back at Professor Banner.

“Steve,” The Professor says gently, “sometimes its extremely overwhelming for a person to find their soulmate. I probably shouldn't have brought it up it public. Do either of you have anymore classes for the day?”

Bucky shakes his head, still not able to speak. Steve tells them he's free for the rest of the day and then says he also has his dorm to himself for a while. Steve asks Bucky to come back with him and Bucky is helpless to do anything but nod.

They walk back to Steve's dorm in silence, hand in hand, and when Steve finally closes the door and they are alone Bucky pulls Steve back into an embrace. He takes a deep breath and finally finds his words. “I'm sorry.” He mumbles into the crook of Steve's neck.

“You're fine, Bucky.” Steve says, rubbing his hands up and down Bucky's back. “I'm so happy I finally got to meet you.”

“You have no idea. I've been looking forward to this so much, I may have second guessed every single decision I've made, wondering if this would be the thing that would take me away from you.” Bucky whispers.

Steve starts to pull away and Bucky actually whimpers a little. “Hey, it's okay. I was just gonna suggest we go sit on the couch. It's gotta be more comfortable than standing here in the doorway.”

Bucky feels a little crazy but he can't help himself. His mom told him about the emotional bond a pair of soulmates would feel, but she never told him it would feel this intense. “How do you not feel this?” He asks as Steve leads him to the couch.

“I can't say I feel exactly what you do.” Steve pushes Bucky down on the couch and then, amazingly, crawls into Bucky's lap. “I do feel like when you stop touching me I might cry.” Bucky wraps his arms back around Steve and pulls him close, kisses his soulmate's forehead. “When we hugged in the lab, I felt like I was home. Finally. For the first time since my ma died, I don't feel alone anymore.” Steve snuggles his face into the crook of Bucky's neck. When he speaks again Bucky shivers at the warmth of Steve's breath on his skin. “I think I'm just used to pushing down my feelings. I've always been this way.”

“I've always been a little more like an open book, I guess.” Bucky chuckles. “Ma always said I wouldn't ever be able to lie to her. She was right. I never got away with it.”

They sat that way and talked for hours. They talked about everything. They laughed, Bucky held Steve and rubbed his back when he cried a little after talking about his ma. After what felt like forever and yet not long enough, Steve's roommate finally came home.

“Steve!” Bucky heard a man yell out. “Where are you? You sick again? You didn't show up for our coffee date!”

Bucky stiffened and Steve yelled out “Shut up, dunderhead. I'm in here.” Steve rolled his eyes but didn't move from Bucky's lap.

Bucky was just starting to get worried about the man Steve was supposed to be having a coffee date with when the man walked into the room and stopped. “Well, I can't say I ever expected this, however I can't say I'm surprised either.” The man walked into the room and plopped down into a chair. “I'm Sam. I'm sorry if I startled you.” Sam frowned then got an almost horrified look on his face and practically yelled, “Shit! No! Not a date! It's a friend thing. We are just friends.” When Bucky visibly relaxed and Steve chuckled, Sam rolled his eyes. “We've been friends-”

“Forever?” Bucky interrupted. “We've been talking for a while. He might have mentioned you, in passing maybe?” Bucky smirked at the offended look on Sam's face.

Steve leaned up and kissed Bucky on the cheek. “Sam, Professor Banner actually introduced us.”

“No shit? Wow.” Sam seemed pretty surprised about that detail.

“I was drawing on myself during class. I think...” He paused, cocked his head to the side, then looked up at Bucky with confusion on his face. “What were you doing?”

“Watching the different drawings appear and smiling, probably kind of idiotically.” Bucky said with an embarrassed smile.

Steve's confusion didn't go away, “Why?”

“What?”

“Why were you smiling like an idiot?”

Bucky frowned a little, glanced at Sam, and looked back at Steve. “Are you kidding? I love seeing what you draw. Your art is so beautiful. I've always felt such awe. The first time you ever drew something on yourself I ran to my mom. She explained what it was and I think at that moment I knew that no matter what, I would always wait for you.” Bucky blushed. “I, uh, wasn't gonna admit that right away.”

Steve reached up with his hand to caress Bucky's cheek. “That is so beautiful, Buck.” He whispered.

Sam pretended to gag and rolled his eyes. “Okay, but tell him what you told me the first time anything showed up on your skin, Steve.”

“That's not fair! It was different!”

Bucky blushed. “That was the, uh...penis?”

Sam snorted and Steve shot him a glare that said, in no uncertain terms, how upset Steve was with this. “I said it was stupid, okay?” Sam snorted again and Steve yelled, “Shut up, jerk!”

Bucky smiled. “I'm pretty sure a friend drew that and I tried to write 'sorry' next to it but they kept stealing my pens. I was mad at them for that.” Bucky chuckled a little and squeezed Steve gently.

Steve smiled and tucked his head under Bucky's chin, nuzzling like a cat would. Bucky smiled bigger and turned to kiss Steve on the head. They continued talking, Sam joining in this time, about their childhoods now. Steve had a laundry list of ailments. Seemed like he was always sick with something or other, according to Sam. Bucky on the other hand was sick once or twice a year. In a bad year. The talked well into the night and laughed until they cried. It was a great night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I knew I wasn't done yet when I published the first part of this. This chapter is a lot longer than I intended but hey, the muse gets what it demands. This might be the last chapter. Who knows.
> 
> I cried writing this chapter. Steve and Bucky live together now. They are best friends and lovers, as well as soulmates. Hope you enjoy it.

Time passes in a blur. They become best friends. Sam pretends to be disgusted sometimes and other times tells them how cute they are together. Sam hasn't met his soulmate yet but he had the brilliant idea of starting to chat with her on his arm. Steve finds it hilarious. Bucky thinks its genius. Three years after they meet Bucky and Steve, along with Sam, are graduating. They decided to get an apartment together in Brooklyn. Sam gets a job offer in Manhattan so he decides to live a little closer to work. Steve gets a job with a marketing firm. He can draw with pencils when he prefers, but he also loves creating the digital art.

Steve and Bucky have been living together for three years. It's not all roses and chocolate sauce, though they do have some fun with chocolate sauce once in a while. They have fights, they don't always want to be around each other, they disagree. Neither one would change it though. They are still very in love.

Steve is sitting in his office trying to come up with an idea for his latest advertisement request. He starts doodling on his notepad, the same type of flowers he was drawing on himself the day he met Bucky. He's doodling and thinking about Bucky and suddenly gets a brilliant idea. He starts to draw on his arm.

Bucky is trying his best to get his work done but his boss is being a real jerk right now. The project Bucky's working on isn't going as well as he'd hoped, he was late getting up, which means he was late to work, and apparently his boss woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Overall today is not going great. Around the time he feels like he's about to scream from frustration he notices the drawings showing up on his arm. Similar flowers to the ones that Steve drew when they met. Bucky sits back in his chair and watches as the flowers show up, then realizes the vines are words. Last time the vines just connected the flowers but now they spell something. Bucky watches fascinated as Steve spells out: Bucky, I love you. It's something so simple and yet to Bucky it's so profound. It means so much and Bucky has to close his eyes and breath deeply for a few minutes so he doesn't start crying at work.

Bucky makes it through the rest of the day without losing his temper and when he gets home and Steve is already there waiting he immediately drags the smaller man to the couch. Bucky sits down and pulls Steve on his lap and then buries his face in Steve's neck. Steve wraps his arms around Bucky and Bucky, muffled slightly by Steve's skin, says, “I was having a bad day at work. Then your drawing showed up on my arm.” Bucky sniffles a little, like he's trying not to cry. “I was about to scream at my boss, he was being such a jerk. When I saw your drawings it made me feel so much better. I love you so much, Stevie.”

There's silence for a minute and then Steve sounds emotional when he says, “I didn't know you were having a bad day. I just know you love when I draw for you. I wanted to make you smile.” Steve kisses Bucky's head. “I love you too, Buck.”

About a week later Bucky's project is finished and he is starting on a new one. This one he can go slow on so he's able to take his time and not rush through it. He is sitting typing the calculations into the program on his computer when he sees the writing on the back of his hand. Steve has just written two words: 'bad day'. Bucky feels his heart squeeze a little and then he grabs his pen. It's a felt tip pen so it's easier to use. Turning his right arm, palm up, he places the tip of the pen on his wrist and starts drawing a looping line, loops and swirls and curves. He's trying to make it look decent but he's no artist. When he's done he just writes three words under the line right on his wrist: 'Love you, Stevie'. He smirks to himself hoping he at least made Steve smile.

When Bucky gets home that night Steve is waiting for him. He must have had a pretty bad day because he has this anxious look on his face like he's not sure what Bucky is gonna say. “Stevie,” Bucky says softly as he closes the door, “you don't gotta look so scared of me, love.”

Steve shakes his head and Bucky sees the pain and realizes the fear must be something else. Steve seems to be struggling to say something so Bucky takes him to the couch. They snuggle the same way they always do, Steve sitting on Bucky's lap. This time it's Steve's turn to bury his face. He nuzzles into Bucky's neck and then Bucky feels the tears landing on his skin. “I got fired.” Steve whispers miserably.

Bucky just holds Steve closer. Bucky couldn't care less what kind of job Steve has. He makes enough at his own job to support them both. He has great insurance too so Steve can go to the doctor and get his medicine without worrying about spending too much money keeping himself alive. It might sound silly to some people to worry about that sort of thing but that's just who Steve is. He worries about spending too much money on his medicine, even though Bucky repeatedly points out he'd rather spend the money than lose Steve. The thing about Steve working though, Bucky supposes it has something to do with Steve's pride. They don't talk about it a lot because the last time Steve was sick and his boss threatened to fire him Bucky mentioned just quitting. Steve's reaction made it clear that no force on earth would make Steve Rogers quit anything he didn't want to quit.

Bucky, wanting to help, asked the first question that came to mind. “Why?”

Steve shrugged, “I guess it's cause I'm sick so much, but they can't fire you for that so they told me they just didn't like my style anymore.” Steve sounded like he'd been crying for awhile before Bucky got home.

“Baby, what time did they send you home?” Steve shrugs. “Don't, honey, please talk to me. I want to help you.”

Steve sighs quietly and says in a soft voice, “Just before I wrote 'bad day' on my hand.”

“That's why you wrote that?” Steve nods at Bucky's question and Bucky sighs a little. “Honey, why didn't you say anything? You could have told me. You could have texted me. I would have been here for you.”

Steve sniffles and Bucky feels more tears fall on his skin. “I didn't want to bother you.”

“Steven Grant. You are never a bother to me.” Bucky tries to be stern but loving because he hates when Steve starts to say things like that. His next words come out much softer. “I love you and I want to be here for you. I want to comfort you when you're upset. I want to hug you and hold you just like this. My favorite place to be is wherever you are.”

Steve doesn't reply for a minute and then he whispers, “But wouldn't your boss be upset if you left during your shift?”

Bucky chuckles lightly. “I have plenty of sick time and personal time I can use. You don't let me use my sick days to stay home and watch you, so I have more than enough. In fact,” Bucky shifts Steve to the side a little and pulls out his phone, “I'm gonna take the day off tomorrow.” Steve looks like he's gonna protest but Bucky silences him with a small kiss on the lips and a look. After texting his boss about not coming in the next day with an excuse of bad gas station sushi, Bucky gently sets Steve on the couch and gets up. “I'm gonna make us a nice dinner. You have any special requests, sweetheart?” Steve shakes his head but doesn't look at Bucky. “Come on, honey. You can help if you'd like.”

“No, I'll just burn it.”

“I didn't say I was gonna make you cook, honey. I just need help figuring out what to make.” Steve finally nods at that and gets up to help. Before he starts cooking though Bucky wants to get out of his work clothes. “I have grease and oil all over me. I'm gonna change before I start cooking.” Steve follows Bucky into their bedroom and decides to change out of his work clothes too. Bucky decides not to ask why he hadn't changed before, not sure if he'd like the answer. They each put on some sweatpants and Bucky chooses a simple cotton tee-shirt. Bucky, as usual, fills his to bursting. Steve is wearing one of Bucky's pullover hoodies though so he is practically swimming in it. Bucky thinks it's adorable. “I love when you wear my clothes.” He says softly.

Steve blushes. “I love wearing your clothes. Makes me feel like you're hugging me.”

“You can wear my clothes anytime you want, sweetheart.” Bucky leans over and kisses Steve's forehead. “You figure out what you wanna eat yet?”

Steve shrugs and then says, “Pasta?”

Bucky takes Steve's hand and leads him back to the kitchen and they look around for pasta and something to flavor it with. They have garlic alfredo sauce and decide to just go with simple this time. While the noodles boil, Bucky turns on a special Spotify playlist he made one day when he was feeling romantic. It only has slow love songs. After setting it up to play through the sound system they have in the apartment, he takes Steve's hand and pulls him close. “I want to dance with you.” He whispers in Steve's ear as he starts to slowly dance. It's one of those simple dances where they don't move much, just a bit more like shuffling their feet. After a couple songs Bucky gently leads Steve to the table. He turns off the lights and turns the volume on the music down. He gets some candles and puts them on the table. After stirring the sauce into the noodles he places the bowl on the table with some wine glasses. When Steve raises an eyebrow Bucky pulls a bottle of sparkling grape juice out of the fridge.

“I would never give you alcohol, Stevie. I remember what happened last time.” Bucky smiles gently.

Steve frowned. He still didn't recall what happened that night. Sam and Bucky told him he didn't do anything too stupid but they wouldn't tell him exactly what he did. The hangover he got the next day though, that he did recall. Lasted for three whole days. With his list of ailments he should have known better than to drink that much. It always took days for his body to filter it out. Bucky had almost made him go to the emergency room when Steve didn't eat for three days. Luckily the third day he ate a piece of plain toast so Bucky calmed down a bit.

Steve shakes his head to clear away the memories and looks up at Bucky. “Why are you being to sweet to me?”

“I want you to know how much I love you. I should do this more often.” Bucky smiles and reaches across the table to squeeze Steve's hand. “I need you to know something. Listen closely, okay?” Steve nods and keeps eye contact with Bucky. “I don't do anything for you because I pity you, because you are week, or because I think you can't do it yourself. I do everything I do for you. Because I love you. Because I need you in my life. Because without you my life would be empty and meaningless. Do you understand me?” Steve glances down at their hands on the table then nods as he makes eye contact again. Bucky isn't sure if Steve truly understands or just wants to make Bucky happy, but for now he lets it go.

They eat dinner with just the sounds of the quiet music in the background, Bucky still reaching over to squeeze Steve's hand once in a while. It's a peaceful sort of quiet, with the only sound being the music. After they finish dinner they wash all the dishes they had used and then snuggle on the couch, watching a movie they've both seen more times than they can count. They fall asleep on the couch and wake up sometime in the middle of the night to move to their bed. Neither one has to work the next day so they sleep until noon and when they get out of bed Bucky convinces Steve to go for a walk. They end up taking the Subway to Central Park and they sit on a bench. Bucky reads a book he downloaded to his phone and Steve sketches birds and trees and people.

Overall it was a pretty relaxing day and when they go to bed they both have smiles. Steve is feeling less down about his job situation for the most part and decides to look for some commissions on the internet. He knows not everyone will be kind about it, but it's a way to make money. Over the next few weeks he gets a few requests here and there. Most of them are overly nice about it and a couple people actually send him more money than he asks for once he sends the final product.

After almost a month of working commissions he figures out he made one huge mistake. He never asks for money first. It's not a huge deal at first. Most people are more than willing to pay. However the guy Steve's working for right now is a huge jerk. He keeps asking Steve to change things, Steve's reworked the final product so many times he wonders if this guy knows what he wants at all. Not that he's gonna say that. Finally the guy seems satisfied. He thanks Steve for his work. Steve tells the guy how much he owes and the jerk says something about Steve being a freelance artist and Steve hears nothing else from the guy after that. Steve tries to contact him but the only communication they ever had was email and now his emails are coming back saying the email doesn't exist.

Bucky feels bad for Steve and tries to make him feel better but nothing he says helps. Steve gets depressed and won't talk to Bucky about it. He tries to pretend he's fine but Bucky knows he's not. Sam stops over one day and Bucky wants to try telling Sam to leave but since Steve and Sam have been friends since they were kids he figures maybe Sam could help. Sam at least gets a genuine laugh out of Steve while Bucky is in the kitchen getting them all drinks and Bucky's heart sings with the sound he's missed so much.

“NO!” Bucky jolts awake after the cry. At first he thinks it was the dream he was having but then he hears the whimpering. He looks to Steve's side of the bed and Steve is all curled up as small as he can on the edge of the bed. He's crying and it makes Bucky's heart ache. “Please, don't leave me, Bucky.” Steve mumbles in such a broken voice it's all Bucky can do not to start sobbing right then. He reaches out and pulls Steve closer to him. Bucky whispers in Steve's ear about how much he loves him and will never leave. Eventually Steve stops crying and his breathing evens out. Bucky decides not to say anything about it at first, but then it happens again. Steve dreams about Bucky leaving him every night for a week before Bucky gives in and wakes Steve up.

“Stevie, wake up.” Bucky gently wakes Steve from his latest nightmare and when Steve turns he sees Bucky crying.

“Buck? What's wrong?” Steve sits up and reaches out to hug Bucky.

Bucky doesn't hug Steve back right away, instead asking in a small voice, “Stevie, do you think I don't love you anymore?”

Steve looks at Bucky and Bucky can't read the expression on his face but he knows what that means. “Steve,” he whispers, “why?” Bucky can feel more tears threatening to spill from his eyes and he hates it but can't stop the way he feels.

“Buck, I'm not even worth it. I might be your soulmate but what does that even mean?” Bucky knows Steve's dad died before Steve was born and that his mom didn't talk about it much. Maybe that's why Steve is so skeptical about Bucky's proclamations of love. “I'm sick all the time and I can't hold down a job to save my life. I've got anxiety and depression and I can't do the things you can. I can't even cook, Bucky.” Bucky feels more tears fall as he listens to Steve list reasons why Bucky shouldn't love him. “I wouldn't be alive if you and Sam hadn't been looking out for me. I still can't figure out why Sam sticks around. And, sure, I know you're my soulmate but, does that mean you're stuck with me?” Steve turns his back to Bucky. “I can't do anything right. Just-” Steve stops talking and Bucky can see his shoulders shaking.

“Steve, please.” Bucky whispers, this time because he's not sure his voice won't crack. “Please, don't do this. I've loved you since I met you. How can you doubt me now? I'm the one who asked you to move in with me. I never...I didn't do it because I pity you. I did it because I love you. I want to spend time with you.” Steve shakes his head and Bucky suddenly gets irrationally pissed off. He's always hated when people tried to tell him what he feels and thinks. “Steven Grant!” He growls out. Then he remembers something. He shoots out of the bed and storms out. They have two bedrooms but the second one is mostly full of boxes. He remembers which box he wants and finds it right away. Digs through until he finds what he's looking for.

When he gets back to their room Steve is laying down again, still crying. Bucky walks over to Steve's side and shoves the envelope in Steve's hands, turns around and leaves the room. He slams the door shut and goes to the kitchen to get something to drink. He wants some alcohol but they don't usually keep much in the house so he settles for water. The envelope is a letter he wrote shortly after he met Steve. He knew immediately that he would always love Steve. During a spring break he had been visiting his family and Steve went with Sam. Bucky missed Steve every second and had written a letter to Steve, telling him all his thoughts and describing all his feelings. Bucky had saved the letter instead of sending it or destroying it. He thought maybe if anything ever happened to him, hopefully Steve would find it and would feel loved after Bucky wasn't there to love him anymore. He never thought he'd be using it like this.

After about five minutes that feel like five hours, Steve comes into the kitchen. He shuffles over to where Bucky is standing leaned against the counter. He doesn't look up and he's still holding the letter. Steve sniffles then looks up at Bucky. “When did you write this?”

Bucky looks up at Steve and, when he can't figure out the expression on Steve's face, looks back down at the cup of water he's still holding. “Spring break. The first time we were apart after meeting.”

Steve sniffles again and then is pressing himself up against Bucky. Bucky sets the glass of water down and wraps his arms around Steve. Steve sounds like his throat hurts when he tries to speak again. “Do you really feel all this? You really think these things?”

“Yes.” Bucky kisses the top of Steve's head and rubs his back. “Every single day.”

“Bucky,” Steve pulls back a little and looks at Bucky with determination on his face, “let's go get married. Now.”

“Steve, I can't.” Bucky watches the way Steve's face falls and feels awful. “Baby, let me explain, please.” Steve nods and waits for Bucky continue. “I have a surprise for you. I've been planning this for a while. It's gonna happen tomorrow.”

“Wait. Stop.” Steve looks determined again. “If you've been planning something for me, don't spoil it now.”

“Are you sure, honey?” Steve nods and hugs Bucky. “Okay, lets go back to bed. I wanna hold you.”

“I'd love that.” Steve smiles up at Bucky.

They go to bed and snuggle the rest of the night. The next day is a Saturday and when Bucky wakes up he gets ready for the day. Today is the day he's going to propose to Steve. He can't believe Steve almost spoiled the surprise by asking for a shotgun wedding. Bucky shakes his head at his own reflection in the mirror. He's ready for the first part of the day. He's determined to make this the best day ever for his best guy.

“Stevie! You ready yet, baby?” He raises his voice a little because the door is closed. Steve was so excited for his surprise today that he was practically vibrating. Bucky knew Steve loved surprises but he's honestly a little taken aback when Steve woke up rearing to go and with wide bright eyes. Bucky hears a thump and a curse and heads out to make sure his boyfriend is okay. He chuckles when he sees Steve laying on the floor trying to wiggle into his jeans. “Sweetheart, should you try some different pants?” Steve grunts out what sounds like a 'no' and manages to get the jeans on. “You know, it's gonna be awfully hard for me to get those off you later.” Steve freezes and looks up at Bucky with wide eyes.

“But, you said-” Bucky laughs and Steve glares at him. He stands up and punches Bucky. “Jerk.”

“Punk.” Bucky wraps his arms around Steve's shoulders and pulls him towards the door. “Come on, let's go get breakfast.”

Turns out breakfast is at Steve's favorite breakfast restaurant. Steve has a dopey, happy smile the whole time they are eating and the two have so much fun. Bucky takes Steve to see an orchestra after breakfast then they go to lunch. After lunch they walk around Central Park. Steve is smiling the whole day and Bucky feels like he's the luckiest guy in the world. They head back home to change. Without giving anything away Bucky convinces Steve to wear some nice pants and a button up shirt. When they get to the restaurant Bucky picked Steve's eyes go wide and he looks at Bucky in awe. It's a place that Steve's always wanted to go, but they haven't because it's pretty fancy and really expensive.

“Buck, is this the surprise? This is amazing. How did you get us in here?” Bucky winks and walks with Steve up to the host and gives his name. The guy takes them to their booth and says the server will be with them shortly. “Bucky, this is amazing.” Steve smiles bigger than he's smiled all day.

“I'm glad you like it, sweetheart.” Bucky is nervous now. He's planning on proposing during dessert and after last night he is almost completely sure that Steve will say yes. However he's not sure Steve will appreciate the way he's chosen to ask. Steve never likes being the center of attention so Bucky is being careful to make sure that they won't be. They talk and enjoy dinner. They get some wine and for dinner they get steak and potatoes. Bucky manages to eat even with the butterflies trying to get out of his stomach. When Bucky is finished eating and Steve is almost done, because he always takes longer to eat, Bucky says he has he go to the bathroom, which he does. He goes to the bathroom and splashes his face with some cold water. Then he goes to find their server. The guy is just coming back to ask about dessert when Bucky stops him. He tells the server he wants one piece of strawberry cheesecake and one fork. Then he hands the server the ring box and asks if he can place it on the plate in a creative way. The server's face lights up and he smiles, taking the box and promising to be careful. About ten minutes later the server comes out, full of smiles, and places the cheesecake on the table. He smiles and then winks at Bucky and takes the empty plates.

“I didn't order cheesecake.” Steve says, looking a little confused.

“I did.” Bucky smiles and picks up the fork, which is when he sees the ring. He tries to keep his features calm but he doesn't know how Steve is gonna react. He uses the fork to get a small bite and makes sure the ring is clearly visible. “Steve, I love you. I have loved you since I met you. I've known I'd love you since the first drawing showed up on my skin when I was a kid. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Bucky reaches across the table with the fork and watches Steve's face. Steve has tears in his eyes and when he sees Bucky glance down at the fork, looks down and gasps. “Steven Grant Rogers, will you marry me?”

Steve looks down at the fork again and Bucky watches the tears fall. He's waiting still but doesn't want to pressure Steve, who is still looking at the ring like he thinks it's not real. Bucky takes the fork and pulls the ring off of it. “Stevie?” Steve blinks and looks back up at Bucky.

“Bucky,” he breathes out, “really?”

Bucky chuckles and reaches out for Steve's hand. “I love you.” He says as he places the ring on Steve's finger.

“Oh, Bucky.” Steve smiles and tears fall again. “Of course, I'll marry you!”


End file.
